Memory is a wonderful attribute of being human. It makes us who we are since we use it to retain knowledge about our past experiences. Without it we would not be capable of learning new skills and retaining information necessary to become a productive member of our world. To help deal with the frustrations that come with a declining memory, we have provided some practical and easy tips to follow.

A fun and creative way to improve memory skills is to play games that challenge the brain. This works in the same way that physical exercise helps to build muscle. You can increase your memory skills, focus and concentration by exercising your brain. Some great games for your brain are brain teasers, crossword puzzles, and word searches.

Help protect your memory for years to come by making sure you are getting plenty of vitamin B-12 in your diet. Studies have linked low levels of B-12 to dementia and poor cognitive function. Food sources rich in B-12 include liver, eggs, fish, poultry, meat and milk products. If you don’t eat a lot of meat, you may need to take a daily B-12 supplement to help prevent deficiency.

Increase the dark leafy greens in your diet like spinach to help boost your memory power. They contain important B vitamins and folic acid, which have a huge job in taking care of the neurons in your brain. They healthcarebin.com also help keep oxygen flowing through your body, which is integral to healthy brain activity.

Keep a diary or calendar for appointments. This is extremely helpful in remembering important dates or events. Be consistent with it and keep it in the same place all the time. You should look at it every day to update it and to make sure there isn’t anything you are forgetting.

Sleep well for at least 7-8 hours a day. A sleep deprived body has diminished functions including problems with brain activities and memory. Studies show that inadequate sleep can cause difficulties in problem solving, critical thinking and studying. Sleeping is an unavoidable part of the learning process as it is necessary for memory consolidation.

When trying to remember something, incorporate as many of your senses as possible. The more sense you use when making a memory, the easier it will be to recall at a later date. You can see this process in action every time a familiar smell reminds you of something from your past.

Aid your memory by organizing facts into topic sets. Create outlines of study materials that are based on similar topics rather than when you originally learned that fact. Your brain remembers things better if they go together. By grouping similar concepts and topics together, you increase your chances of remembering those items later.

It may sound silly, but one way to improve memory is to surround yourself with good friends, and to maintain an active social life. A Harvard study suggests that those who had active and fulfilling social lives, showed rates of cognitive decline significantly lower than their less socially active peers.

When trying to commit a long list of mental-health information to memory, it is usually better to arrange the information in chunks or smaller units and categories to help make the information easier to remember. As an example, it is easier to remember a telephone number as three units of three, three, and four numbers rather than a long string of ten numbers. The same tactics work when remembering social security numbers and computer passwords.

We all want to have the most accurate memory possible, but as time goes by some of us are affected by memory loss. In addition, Alzheimers disease has become increasingly common, and there does not seem to be an effective treatment at this point. Research has made some advances, but the exact cause is still unknown. Whether you have lost some of your memory as a symptom to an illness or just due to the natural aging process, the above-mentioned tips will help improve or even sharpen it.